France’s spending on national road repairs to reach €1 billion

France has increased its annual national-road modernisation fund by 25% to €1 billion for  starting next year.

French Transport Minister Élisabeth Borne made the announcement, pointing out that the country’s roads in the worst condition will get priority.

Also, starting in 2022, roads will be reviewed every five years under a new scoring system to determine which are in most need of repairs and modernisation.

Borne noted that she wanted to speed up improvement works on routes serving mid-sized cities.

The focus of the plan is on trunk national roads directly managed by the government and not on departmental roads which are managed at local and regional level.

France’s framework mobility law, which should be presented to parliament this summer, is designed to overhaul investments in transport infrastructure. It will propose an overall strategy, as well as a serious infrastructure programme for the next two decades.

French media have questioned the increase, saying that the government has not made it clear where it intends to get the extra cash for the increased improvement programme.